England v India 2007

Richard Hobson

At Lord's, September 8. England won by seven wickets. Toss: India.

A 3-3 scoreline made this into an old-fashioned final but, after the earlier thrills, it proved a
disappointingly low-key, chilly affair. England fully deserved victory for a clinical bowling display;
for the first time in six years, they went through an innings without conceding a wide. But why
Dravid defied the grey September morning by opting to bat was a mystery. Anderson set the tone,
peppering Ganguly with well-directed short balls. Then the equally hostile Flintoff, after an injection
to calm his ankle, appealed successfully to Aleem Dar to remove Dravid, and then Tendulkar, on
probably his last appearance for India in England, to what was a wafer-thin edge if he hit it at
all (Dar admitted more than a month later that he had got it wrong, as he was concentrating on
Flintoff 's front foot). Mascarenhas proved tight with his straight line and changes of pace, the
parlous situation inhibiting Dhoni's usual flair. A new opening pair, the Sussex players Wright
and Prior, had plenty of time to launch England's reply, Cook's uncertain footwork having cost
him his place, but both fell nervously in R. P. Singh's first over. Bell continued his confident run
until a bad call from Pietersen, who redeemed himself with his best score of the series. And, at
the other end, the rock-steady Collingwood saw it through to lead England to their first one-day
series win at home since they defeated India in 2004.